“It is certainly appropriate to protect judges from popular pressure if their task is limited to discerning and applying the intent of the Framers or legislators,” he wrote. “The federal judiciary today benefits from an insulation from political pressure even as it usurps the roles of the political branches.”

Let’s hope he still feels that way.

And, his opinion of the Burger Court wasn’t all that high…

In a Feb. 10, 1983 memo, Roberts wrote that “a new tier of judicial review is a terrible idea.” The justices are to blame for taking too many cases and issuing “opinions so confusing that they often do not even resolve the questions presented,” Roberts wrote.

To cut its caseload, the high court could consider “abdicating the role of fourth or fifth guesser in death penalty cases,” he suggested.

“So long as the Court views itself as ultimately responsible for governing all aspects of our society, it will, understandably, be overworked,” Roberts wrote. “A new court will not solve this problem.”